Outcome 1.

1: Core concepts of marketing: Five core customer and marketplace concepts: Customer needs, wants, and demands, Market offerings (Products, Services and Experiences), Value and satisfaction, Exchanges and relationships, and Markets. As figure 1 show; Markets are the set of actual and potential buyers of a product. As figure 2 shows: (SlideShare Inc 2010)

Figure 1 Core Marketing Concepts

Figure 2 - Market
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Marketing Management: Marketing management wants to design strategies that will build profitable relationships with target consumers. There are five alternative concepts under which organizations design and carry out their marketing strategies: Production, Product, Selling, Marketing, and Societal Concept.

1.

Production Concept

Production concept is the idea that consumers will favor products that are available or highly affordable. Management should focus on improving production and distribution efficiency.

For example: Tissue manufacture company, such as Vinda Group, SCA Tissue Hong Kong Limited. Tissue is daily necessities, whether the good or bad quality of tissue, individuals, families, restaurants, and public places are required. Company will be large to production the products, just the product can be use on the guests.

2.

Product Concept

Product concept is the idea that consumers will favor products that offer the most quality, performance, and features. Organization should therefore devote its energy to making continuous product improvements.

For example: Apple Inc. From iPhone to iPhone 4S, Apple Inc continuous development and improve the product, such as iPhone 4S the Maximum Data Download Speeds has 14.4 Mbps, but iPhone 4 only has 7.2 Mbps, greatly to improve the product quality to satisfy the consumers.

3.

Selling Concept

Selling concept is the idea that consumers will not but enough of the firm's products unless it undertakes a large scale selling and promotion effort.

For example: CIGNA (insurance). Through the advertisement to promotion the insurance, provide the information to make the consumer percept the importance of product, allow the consumer to buying. Such as CIGNA Senior Serenity Plan.

4.

Marketing Concept

Marketing concept is the idea achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of the target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions better than competitors do. Under the marketing concept, customer focus and value are the paths to sales and profits.

For example: Bank. Such as The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), Hang Seng Bank, and so on. Provide different plan of deposits, investment, cards, mortgages, loans, and insurance to meet different types of consumers' needs.

5.

Societal Concept

Societal marketing concept is the idea that a company should make good marketing decisions by considering consumers' wants, the company's requirements, consumers' long-term interests, and society's long-run interests.

For example: Starbucks. They investment to ensure the coffee producers, their families and communities, and the natural environment can gain benefit. Moreover, ensure the coffee can be long-term supply and helping to promote a sustainable model for the worldwide production and trade, keep the high-quality coffee.

Outcome 1.2: Marketing Environment: The marketing environment includes the actors and forces outside marketing that affect marketing management's ability to build and maintain successful relationships with customers.

Micro-environment Microenvironment consists of the actors close to the company that affect its ability to serve its customers, the company, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customers, competitors, and publics. Macro-environment Macro-environment includes Economic, Demographic, Natural, Technological, Political, and Cultural.

Impact on the tourism industry: News from the newspaper: Thailand travel risk PEST Analysis: Political

In recent few years, Thailand involved the political turmoil. 5 year ago has occur mutiny, nine landmark has bombs exploded in the city, lead to 3 dead 30 injured, more casualty is visitor, allow the Inbound visitor decrease 220,000 to 300,000 people, the tourism industry lost at least HK$4 billion. (ON.CC (BVI) LTD (2011)

Economic

Tourism Authority of Thailand to enhance the publicity and contact foreign institutional salvation, to make the visitors regain the confidence for the Thailand tourism, stimulates the tourism recovery and economic growth. (ON.CC (BVI) LTD (2011) Social
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In safety of problem, Thailand through the work of publicity and recovery, Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) change from red to yellow. This indicate has a signs of threat, need to monitor situation and exercise caution in presently. (rthk.hk 2011)

Technological

Flood of Thailand, the flood control system is not perfect, 38 changwat affected by the flood in Thailand, more visitor has stay, flood affect the visitor's confidence to Thailand tourism, lead to economic growth fell to 2.4% in this year. (rthk.hk 2011)

Outcome 1.3:

Outcome 1.4: Market Segmentation: Marketing segmentation is the process that companies use to divide large heterogeneous markets into small markets that can be reached more efficiently and effectively with products and services that match their unique needs. As figure 3 shows: (QuickMBA.com 2010)

Figure 3 Marketing Segmentation Market segmentation includes the segmenting consumer markets, segmenting business markets, and segmenting international markets. Segmenting consumer markets: Consumer markets include Geographic segmentation, Demographic segmentation,

Psychographic segmentation, and Behavioral segmentation. Geographic segmentation The market divides into different geographical units, such as nations, regions, states, counties, cities or even neighborhoods.

Demographic segmentation The market divides into group based on variables such as age, gender, family size, family life cycle, income, occupation, education, religion, race, generation, and nationality. Segmenting customer group base will use the segmentation of age & life-cycle stage, gender, and income.

Psychographic segmentation
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Buyers divide into different groups based on social class, lifestyle, or personality characteristics. Markers use personality variables to segment markets.

Behavioral segmentation Buyers divide into groups based on their knowledge, attitudes, uses, or responses to a product. Such as Occasions, Benefits sought, User status, Usage rate, and Loyalty status. (NetMBA.com 2010)

Segmenting business markets Consumer and business marketers use many of the same variables to segment their markets. Business marketers also use some additional variables, such as customer operating characteristics, purchasing approaches, situational factors, and personal characteristics. Many marketers believe that buying behavior and benefits provide the best basis for segmenting business markets. (Sooper Tutirials 2011)

Segmenting international markets Consumers divide into groups with similar needs and buying behaviors even though they are located in different countries. Such as Geographic location, Economic factors, Political legal factors, and Cultural factors. (ZainBooks 2011)

Market targeting: Target market consists of a set of buyers who share common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve. In evaluating different market segments, a firm must look at the segment size & growth, segment structural attractiveness, and company objectives & resources. Therefore, base the Target Marketing Strategies to decide the segment. As figure 4 shows: (About.com 2011)

Figure 4 Target Marketing Strategies Undifferentiated marketing strategy: A firm might decide to ignore market segment differences and targets the whole market with one offer. Mass marketing focuses on cost saving and common needs rather than what's different.

Differentiated marketing strategy: This can be call segmented marketing strategy, targets several different market segments and designs separate offers for each. For example: Nike. Goal is to achieve higher sales and stronger position, but more expensive than undifferentiated marketing.

Concentrated Marketing strategy: This can be call niche marketing strategy; it targets a small share of a large market. It can be limited company resources, to make more effective and efficient to meet the target consumer.

Micromarketing: The practice of tailoring products and marketing programs to suit the tastes of specific individuals and locations, such as Local marketing (brands) and Individual marketing (one-toone marketing). (NetMBA 2010)

Positioning:
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Product position is the way the product is defined by consumers on important attributes - the place the product occupies in consumers' minds relative to competing products. For example, perception, impressions, feelings, etc. (Marketing Teacher Ltd 2011)

Three steps of choosing a differentiation and positioning strategy: Identifying a set of possible competitive advantages to build a position Choosing the right competitive advantages Selecting an overall positioning strategy

Identifying a set of possible competitive advantages to build a position Competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either through lower prices or by providing more benefits that justify higher prices. Identify a set of possible competitive advantages to build a position by providing superior value, such as product differentiation, service differentiation, channel differentiation, people differentiation, and image differentiation.

Choosing the right competitive advantages A difference is worth establishing to the extent that it satisfies the criteria, difference to promote should be Important, Distinctive, Superior, Communicable, Preemptive, Affordable, and Profitable. (Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong. 2010)

Selecting an overall positioning strategy

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Value proposition is the full mix of benefits upon which a brand is positioned. As figure 5 shows: (Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong. 2010)

Figure 5 Value proposition

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Reference: 1. SlideShare Inc (2010), Core Marketing Concept [online], Available from: http://www.slideshare.net/saadz2007/bcom-0711-lecture-2-core-marketing-concept [Access on: 15 December 2011]

2.

ON.CC (BVI) LTD (2011), Thailand travel risk [online], Available from: http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20111215/00174_001.html [Access on: 15 December 2011]

3.

rthk.hk (2011), Flood of Thailand [online], Available from: http://rthk.hk/rthk/news/expressnews/index_news.htm [Access on: 15 December 2011] QuickMBA.com (2010), Marketing Segmentation [online], Available from: http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/market-segmentation/ [Access on: 16 December 2011] NetMBA.com (2010), Marketing Segmentation [online], Available from: http://www.netmba.com/marketing/market/segmentation/ [Access on: 16 December 2011] Sooper Tutirials (2011), Segmenting business markets [online], Available from: http://www.soopertutorials.com/business/marketing/2131-market-segmentation.html [Access on: 16 December 2011]

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5.

6.

7.

ZainBooks (2011), Segmenting international markets [online], Available from: http://mba.zainbooks.com/terms/marketing/segmenting-international-markets.shtml [Access on: 16 December 2011] About.com (2011), Target Market [online], Available from: http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/marketing/a/targetmarket_2.htm [Access on: 16 December 2011] NetMBA (2010), Target Market Strategies [online], Available from: http://www.netmba.com/marketing/market/target/ [Access on: 16 December 2011]

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9.

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10. Marketing Teacher Ltd (2011), Positioning [online], Available from: http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-positioning.html [Access on: 16 December 2011] 11. Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong. 2010. Principles of marketing thirteenth Edition. US, Pearson Education.

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